Prohibition in the United States created new opportunities for organized crime to make profits even they couldn’t imagine.

It did not take long for the mobsters to push out the independent bootleggers and take control of the whole operation inside the United States. Their tentacles then reached into St. Pierre and Newfoundland, both of which had become legalized transshipment ports for liquor ─ a real rum-runner’s heaven! Once it became clear that St. John’s was legally an open port for the movement of liquor the mob welcomed it as another St. Pierre.

During the era of Prohibition in the United States, Al Capone emerged as the top mobster in the country. His capers made international headlines. Capone controlled the politicians, police, bootleggers, prostitution, and smuggling. He ruled a 1,000-man mob and his gross income was near $100 million annually. The tentacles of organized crime reached into Newfoundland in a big way.

In Rum-runners and Mobsters: Prohibition’s 100th Anniversary Jack Fitzgerald leaves no stone unturned as he chronicles the start and end of the Prohibition era in Newfoundland, while exposing mobster involvement.